TITLE:
Pupils’ Perceptions on Using Toontastic 3D for Social-Emotional Learning: A Qualitative Study in an Intercultural Primary School
AUTHORS:
Eleni Delimpei, George Delibeys, Konstantinos Bikos
KEYWORDS:
Social Emotional Learning, Digital Storytelling, Toontastic 3D, Intercultural Primary School
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.15 No.11,
November
28,
2024
ABSTRACT: In today’s complex world, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is more critical than ever. It equips individuals with essential skills for success, impacting academic achievement, mental well-being, and navigating demanding work environments. Research suggests that digital storytelling techniques can significantly enhance the development of these crucial SEL skills. By allowing individuals to explore and express themselves through multimedia narratives, Digital Storytelling (DS) fosters self-awareness, self-management, and critical social skills—all vital components for success in today’s world. This study investigated pupils’ perceptions on the adoption and use of Toontastic 3D, a DS application, for developing social-emotional skills in an intercultural primary school. The research took place in the Intercultural Primary School of Eleftherio Kordelio Thessaloniki in Greece with 14 pupils of the sixth grade. Employing a qualitative approach, the research explored how pupils perceived Toontastic 3D in terms of its usefulness, user-friendliness and their attitude towards using it. The collected responses from semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings of this analysis indicated that most pupils perceived Toontastic 3D as a valuable tool to navigate everyday situations, to raise social awareness and to facilitate emotion management skills. In addition, it was revealed that the application, despite providing guidance on the construction of narratives, offered constrained options in the settings menu and appeared to be challenging to move a considerable number of avatars simultaneously, which was deemed essential in this educational setting. Overall, the attitude towards the use of the application was positive, except for non-native speakers, who expressed negative feelings regarding the process of recording and presenting their stories.